


Taking Hits, Saving Lives

by NoaMilk



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, alfion doesnt happen here, alfyn is pining, its mutual but he doesnt know that, spoilers for alfyns chapter 2, therion is asleep throughout the entire thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24148318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoaMilk/pseuds/NoaMilk
Summary: Alfyn talks about his problems, stress, and his crush, and Primrose is a good listener.aka Alfyn's stressed, but talking helps
Relationships: Alfyn Greengrass/Therion, Primrose Azelhart & Alfyn Greengrass
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	Taking Hits, Saving Lives

He didn't know if coming to Goldshore was a blessing or a curse.

He met Ellen and Flynn, saw the beach for the first time in a few years, and had no complaints on the overall scenery.

But he met Vanessa, and now knows that apparently not all apothecaries care about the well-being of the people. That wasn't exactly the nicest awakening to the world he could've experienced.

Alfyn looks over to the other bed by the door, and the slowly rising and falling lump beneath the blanket. Therion's asleep, if the light breathing is anything to go by.

It's almost completely dark out, but Alfyn can still make out the messy head of white peeking out of the blanket. The scene is adorable, in his opinion, and if it were a little brighter, he would've brought out his notebook and sneaked in a sketch.

It's the middle of the night, but he's not even remotely sleepy. As quietly as possible, he sits up, and gets out of bed. He lazily tugs on his boots, not bothering at all with his mantle or his unruly hair. Therion would have his head if he woke him up, so he tries his best not to make any sound as he leaves the room. He barely gets any sleep normally, and seems to only be sleeping now because of the exhaustion from the earlier fight.

The inn lounge is dark, and the door creaks something awful when he pushes it open. He sincerely hopes no one woke up because of him, especially knowing that not everyone is as heavy a sleeper as he is.

Surprisingly, he's not the only one awake at whatever ungodly hour it is. A familiar, slim figure is standing in front of the inn, overlooking the golden sands of the beach.

"Hey, didn't know you were awake. What're you doing out?"

Primrose shifts slightly, if only to acknowledge his presence. He takes his place beside her and watches as the water wets the sand.

"I could ask you the same thing." she replies, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I couldn't sleep." Alfyn says. It wasn't a lie, not exactly. He was stressed, though according to Cyrus it showed on his face, so he doesn't see the need to explain. She probably already knew, anyway.

"Hm. I suppose I am the same."

They stand there in silence after that, staring at the beach. Any other day he would've prattled on about how beautiful the beach was, or how they could go swimming with everyone the next morning. The idea still excites him, but he doesn't have the energy to be any more enthusiastic about it.

"You look down. Is this about that woman from earlier?" Primrose asks. She always knew what was up, didn't she? She had the same observant eye as Cyrus and H'aanit.

"Was I really that obvious? Well, I guess it's not hard to tell." He sighs. "Yeah, it's about Vanessa. Well, part of it is. It's mostly about Therion." Primrose hums in acknowledgement.

"Remember earlier, when we were fighting Vanessa and he, uh, took a hit for me?" he says. He grips onto the fencing and balances on the heels of his feet. "Well, he did that, and then he was the one who caught her. But he still got injured, you know?"

It still just feels wrong to him. Therion taking a hit for him wasn't common. He was always watching his back, but he was usually fast enough to parry before he suffered anything worse than a push back. It was usually the other way around, actually. Now he understands why Therion would always yell at him whenever he did that. It's almost laughable.

"Therion said he didn't want anything to do with it, but he still took that hit for me. He got involved for me, but he didn't have to. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate it, I just wish he hadn't gotten injured."

"Well, you would've done the same. I don't think he regrets it." Primrose points out. He lets out a chuckle at that. Yeah, he would've done the same. He's already done the same in the past.

"After that, Vanessa said some stuff about him being my lapdog, or something. Or that he'd leave with the payment without doing his job because that's how 'dirty people' do things." He scoffs and kicks a rock. "I mean, who does she think she is, calling him a dirty person? I know that thievery is bad, but that doesn't mean he's horrible just because he's not fancy like she is. If anything, she's the dirty one! Using people like that, causing illnesses deliberately and asking for such a high price to boot— it's bullshit!"

At the end of his rant, he's left panting, glaring at the ground. Primrose doesn't say anything, and he's thankful. He rakes his hands through his hair, and slumps against the stone fencing. Gods, he was such a mess.

"This whole thing, it's so stressful. Marlene almost lost a daughter today, because of Vanessa. There are so many people that could've, you know, _died_." He says softly. "And I'm scared that Therion will realize I'm not cool, and he'll leave in the middle of the night."

"Well, that certainly seems like something he'd do." Primrose agrees.

"Shucks, I— sorry for talking about all that." He tries his best to smile at her, but from her expression he can tell he probably did a really bad job.

"Don't mind it." She smiles at him, and Alfyn finds himself calming down. "I don't think you need to worry about looking cool in front of Therion."

"But, I want to. It's weird, I usually don't really care about what other people think but, well. You know." He trails off. She probably already gets it.

"But..?" She prompts. "I won't know if you won't tell me."

"I like him. He's really cool. I want him to think _I'm_ cool." He confesses. Primrose lets out a laugh, and it's honestly all so embarrassing. Since when did he become so shy?

"Listen, Alfyn. You don't have to try so hard. I'm sure he already thinks you're cool." Primrose says, leaning against the fence.

"Really? I can't tell. I can never tell what he's thinking. For all I know, Vanessa could be right and he's going to leave without telling me." He sighs. If he was going to leave, he'd at least like a goodbye. He doesn't think he would be able to get over it if Therion just left without telling him.

"Alfyn, you don't have to listen to people like her. She just wanted to get under your skin."

"I know, it's just.."

"He's shifty and quiet and you're unsure."

"Yeah." She hit the nail on the head, as always.

"If you're so unsure, confess."

Apparently, she wasn't always right, based off of that suggestion. 

"Wh- huh?" Alfyn splutters. "No way! Shucks, there's no way I can do that. It's too early, and he doesn't return the sentiment. I don't even know if he swings that way."

"And it's not like he'll open up about it, even if you asked. Just tell him."

"What if it ruins what we already have?" It was possible. Therion gets uncomfortable easily, and if he didn't return the sentiment, he's sure to start avoiding him. Primrose gives him a smile that says she's confident in her opinion.

"It wont." She assures.

"If you say so." He sighs. Might as well give it a shot. If Therion ever was going to leave in the middle of the night, he should at least tell him before he leaves. Assuming he does, of course.

"Anyway, forget about me." Alfyn says. Primrose turns to look at him. "You have anything you want to talk about?"

"Not particularly." Primrose says, turning away again to look at the ocean.

"You never answered my question, actually. Why're you out so late? I mean, you don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable." Alfyn assures. Making her uncomfortable was the last thing he wanted to do.

"I was looking at the ocean. I've never been here as a child." She says. Her face doesn't look like she's lying.

"Yeah? So, what do you think, now that you've seen it?"

"It's nice. Maybe not as nice as people describe it, though."

"Really? I think it's gorgeous. When we first got here I thought about going swimming, but you all seemed busy."

"And not all of us have swimwear." she reminds. Right, yeah. That was a problem too.

"Aw, then I guess not." There goes his plans.

"But we're not busy anymore, are we? We can go to the market first thing tomorrow to buy some."

"R-really? Do we even have enough money for that?" Alfyn asks. They did. Therion looted Vanessa's heavy pockets before they brought her to the gaol keeper. He just didn't know if they'd want to swim.

"Probably. Even if they don't want to swim, it wouldn't hurt to have a pair just in case, right? As a bonus, I'll help you pick out Therion's swimwear." That didn't sound so bad, actually.

"Well, if you say so." He chuckles. Primrose smiles at him in her modest, sincere way.

Coming to Goldshore was a blessing, he decided. A very generous blessing.

**Author's Note:**

> i was possessed while writing this


End file.
